Pinball – a flipping fantastic investment!

UK operators are appreciating the evergreen appeal of pinball and leading supplier Electrocoin is noticing a growing demand.

“There has been a run of fantastic licences for pinball recently, with James Bond, Avengers and Foo Fighters, to name but a few,” says John A Stergides of Electrocoin. “What’s more, operators are realising that pinball makes a great investment. The tables hold their value and there is a very strong second-hand market.”

 Brighton Pier started with two pinballs and added a third in 2022 and the income has gone up on the two already there. Currently there is a Star Wars Pro, James Bond Pro and Rush Pro.

pinballs at Brighton Pier

Mike Brocklehurst, Arcade Operations Manager at the pier said, “We see a varied mix of players on the pinballs it’s not just limited to the stereotypical middle-aged man who remembers them from their childhood! We went from 2 pinballs to 3 last year and saw the overall income increase, and what was interesting was the individual average per pinball remained very similar. They are great replacements for the ageing Cat D AWP estate and can produce higher income for a similar footprint.”

Kevin Nunn of Rotunda – Skegness Pier agrees, “We are looking to buy new pinballs in future as we expand as the licences on the machine will not go out of date. We have them in our bowling area and they are great fun to play and attract people of all ages.”

Clacton Pier

 For Elliot Ball, Director of The Clacton Pier Company, the wide player base for pinball has seen the company reinvest. He says, “We are pleased to add pinball machines back into our arcade offering at the pier after some years of absence. Diversity is essential in our mix of machines to ensure we appeal to all ages.”

Ball has noticed that there is a nostalgic appeal to pinball tables. “Typically, we have noticed an older player, as many people remember playing pinball in their younger years. However, we are also noticing younger players too – the pinball game is an evergreen.”

What’s more – if you equate pinballs with costly downtime, this is no longer the case with modern machines. “We heard the reliability of the machines has greatly improved and to date we can confirm this to be the case. They have the same lasting appeal that air hockey games have, so we expect them to last many years on the arcade floor,” says Ball.

Mike Brocklehurst concurs, “I would say that our pinballs have been as reliable as most videos games, a regular playfield and operational / playability check is all that’s required. Working in partnership with Electrocoin has certainly helped us to bring back a sometimes-overlooked category of machine into our arcade and has enabled future generations to try to become Pinball Wizards! And obviously the extra revenue helps!”

Contact Electrocoin today to find out more !

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22 June 2023

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